Mechanical treatment of material

ABSTRACT

THE WIDTH OF THE ADVANCING MATERIAL IS LONGITUDINALLY COMPRESSED BY BEING PASSED BETWEEN A ROTATING ROLL AND AN OVERLYING COVER MEMBER. THE COVER MEMBER HAS A FIRST PLATE WHICH SERVES TO DEFINE A FIRST PASSAGE WITH THE ROTATING ROLL AND A SECOND PLATE WITH A HIGHER COEFFICIENT FRICTION WHICH SERVES TO DEFINE A SECOND PASSAGE WITH THE ROTATING ROLL. A CAVITY IS FORMED BETWEEN THE PLATES OF THE COVER MEMBER AND THE ROTATING ROLL WHEREIN THE TEXTILE   MATERIAL IS SUBJECTED TO AN ABRUPT REDUCTION IN THE DRIVING FORCE ON THE MATERIAL WHILE BEING SIMULTANEOUSLY CONFINED TO A THICKNESS SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS IN THE FIRST PASSGE SUCH THAT THE MATERIAL IS LONGITUDINALLY COMPRESSED WITHIN THE CAVITY.

Feb. 8, 1972 TRIFUNQVIC ETAL 3,641,234

MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. 4. 1966 2Shuts-Shut 1 INVENTORS.

ALEXANDER L.TR\FUN01I; JAMES R. Houses RIGHA D L. Sm BY= A as Feb. 8,1972 u ov c ETAL 3,641,234

MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF MATERIAL INVENTORS. ALEXANDER L. Tmruuovm JAMESR. HODGES RiCHARD L. SHIOK U-.s. (1264-282 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The width of the advancing material is longitudinallyCompressed by being passed between a rOtating roll and an overlyingcover member. The cover member has a first plate which serves to definea first passage with the rotating roll and a second plate with a highercoetficient friction which serves to define a second passage with therotating roll. A cavity is formed between the plates of the cover memberand the rotating roll wherein the textile material is subjected to anabrupt reduction in the driving force on the material while beingsimultaneously confined to a thickness slightly greater than thethickness in the first passage such that the material is longitudinallycompressed withinthe cavity.

This application is a division of copending application Ser. No.525,039, now Pat. No. 3,425,409, and a continuation of application Ser.No. 810,424, filed I an. 13, 1969.

This invention relates to a mechanical treatment of materials. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a mechanical treatment ofmaterials which are capable of being longitudinally compressed. Stillmore particularly, this invention relates to a mechanical treatmentwhich exerts lengthwise compressive forces upon traveling lengths ofthin materials such as extile yarns and fabrics, paper, metal foil andplastic film to reduce the lengths thereof. Still more particularly thisinvention relates to a process and apparatus for mechanicallycompressing fabric materials which are capable of longitudinalcompression to-impart desirable characteristics thereto.

It has been known that certain materials, more especially textiles, canbe subjected to mechanical treatments which produce a product havingbarely perceptible surface variations, if any, with a large degree oflengthwise compression, such as, disclosed in US. Pat. 3,066,046

.issued on Nov. 27, 1962, and US. Pat. 3,260,778. Several .of theheretofore processes have relied on the technique of delivering atraveling length of material into the nip formed by two rolls with eachroll rotating at a different speed to longitudinally shrink the materialunder the retarding forces created by the speed variation between therolls. Still other processes have relied on the technique of driving alength of material between a rotating roll and a resilient rubber belt,the belt being distorted from its relaxed position by the roll, in orderto create a retarding force on the material to longitudinally compactthematerial. I

'One of the heretofore known treatments has utilized a method andapparatus which grips a length of material on a rotating roll anddelivers the material under a spring steel plate which is spaced overthe roll in order to press the material against the roll for forwardmovement of the material. Thereafter, the material is retarded. in itsforward movement by the roll, the spring steel plate and a retarderblade which is positioned in spaced relation between the roll and thespring steel plate and compacted in an expansion zone formed by theroll, the spring steel plate and retarder blade. The tip of the retarderblade United States Patent 3,641,234 Patented Feb. 8, 1972 is spacedfrom the tip of the spring steel plate with a very close tolerance inorder that the essential retarding force may be developed by the bladeto impart the desired longitudinal compaction of the material in theexpansion zone. The spacing of the respective blade and plate is anessential feature of this process and it has been critical in obtainingthe final desired state of the material processed. It is an object ofthis invention to provide a novel mechanical compressive treatment formaterials.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mechanicalcompressive treatment which prevents imperfections in the materials frominterfering with the process.

It is another object of the invention to provide a mechancialcompression apparatus which can be quickly and easily set up in aminimum of time.

It is another object of the invention to provide a process formechanically compressing traveling lengths of material.

It is another object of the invention to provide a process formechanically compressing traveling lengths of material to impart stretchand/ or bulk, and/ or crimped properties thereto.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process formechanically longitudinally compressing traveling lengths of materialwherein the material is first driven through a first passage where it issubjected to a driving force which advances it while maintaining itsthickness and its substantially undistorted state, thereafter, thedriving force on the material is abruptly reduced while the material isconfined to a slightly greater thickness, and then the material isfrictionally engaged in a second passage by a friction force on one sidein opposition to the driving force on the other side to slow its forwardmovement so as to accumulate and compress it longitudinally as itadvances from the first passage through the second passage.

It is another object of the invention to provide a mechanicallycompressed material having stretch properties and/ or increased bulkand/ or hand while maintaining an even surface appearance.

In general, the invention provides an apparatus for driving a stream ofmaterial through a first passage while maintaining the thickness andsubstantially undistorted state of the material, and thence, into asecond passage wherein the material is longitudinally compressed. Thesecond passage forms an accumulation cavity. The height of theaccumulation cavity at its entrance end adjacent the first passage isgreater than the height of the first passage at its most forward point.At a point spaced from the entrance end of the accumulation cavity is apoint of minimum passage which has a height less than the height of theentrance to the second passage. Beyond this latter point of minimumpassage which forms the exit end of the accumulation cavity the passageincreases in height.

The apparatus includes a driving means and a cover member spaced fromthe driving means to form the passages and cavity for the conveyance ofthe material therethrough. The cover member. is spaced from the drivingmeans in the first passage to press the material against the drivingmeans without substantail distortion so that as the material passesthrough the passage, the driving force imposed on one side of thematerial by the driving means is much greater than the frictional forcewhichis developed on the other side of the material by the cover memberthereby permitting advancement of the material at substantially the samespeed as the driving means. In the second passage, the cover member isspaced from the driving means to develop a frictional force on one sideof the material at the intermediate point of the second passage wherethe accumulation cavity ends which is greater than the driving forceimposed onthe other side of the material by the driving means so thatthe speed of the material is slowed and the material begins to slip withrespect to the driving means and accumulate in the accumulation cavitywherein it is longitudinally compressed by the material subsequentlyleaving the first passage.

When in operation, the material which is longitudinally compressed inthe accumulation cavity may either be extruded therefrom by the force ofthe advancing material driven from the first passage or withdrawn by anyother suitable means. In addition, the manner of taking up thecompressed material may incorporate a suitable means for removing someof the compression of the material to effect a material with a desireddegree of compression within the range of the apparatus.

The contour of the second passage may be such that the entrance and exitends of the accumulation cavity may be relatively abrupt or gradualdepending on the type of material to be treated and the nature of thelongitudinal compression desired in the material. Also, the length andmaximum space between the cover member and driving means in the secondpassage may be varied depending on the material to be treated and theresults desired.

Any material capable of being longitudinally compressed, such as textilematerials composed of cellulosics, proteins, keratine, and syntheticsand produced as, knit, woven, and non-woven fabrics can be treated inthe above manner. Further, where a textile fabric material is treated inthe above manner it will have its length longitudinally compressed to afraction of its original length with the fibers of the material crowdedtogether in such a manner that the undulations of the yarns will becomealmost imperceptible to the naked eye and will give the appearance of aneven surface. Such fabric materials will also possess suitable qualitiesof stretchability, bulk, hand and uniformity.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description and appended claims when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a mechanical compressionapparatus of the invention in situ;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a mechanical compressionapparatus of the invention;

FIG. '3 illustrates a part cross-sectional view of the apparatusillustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates an enlarged part cross-sectional view of one of thepreferred embodiments of the invention showing a diagrammaticrelationship of a driving means and a cover member;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a modified form of theinvention, and

FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of another modified form ofthe invention.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a sheet material supply 6 is positionedbelow a driving means such as, a rotatable steel roll 7 for delivery ofa sheet material 8 thereto. The sheet material 8 before delivery to theroll 7 may have been subjected to other treatments such as in the caseof textile fabrics, prestretching to obtain stretch characteristics inthe material in the width direction, cured or non cured resinimpregnation treatments for imparting subsequent features such aspermanent press or wrinkle resistantcharacteristics to the material, orfor imparting permanent setting characteristics to the material. Theroll 7, which possesses a driving surface which may vary from relativelysmooth to highly rounghened depending upon the material, grips thematerial and delivers the material under the cover member 9.

The cover member 9 and roll 7 cooperate to form sucadvanced passage ofthe cover memberv9 which imparts a longitudinal compression to thematerial, as described below. After being longitudinally compressed, themate rial is taken up through a series of guide rollers 10 which arearranged apart from the roller 7 to guide the material to a suitabletake-up means 11. The take-up means 11 and guide rollers 10 are operatedat a speed less than the speed of the roller 7 to take up the materialin its longitudinally compressed state while maintaining the degree oflongitudinal compression therein. Depending on the desired longitudinalcompression for the material within the range of longitudinalcompression of the apparatus, the speed of the guide rollers and take-upmeans can be set to draw out or remove some of the longitudinalcompression in the treated material. The longitudinally compressed sheetmaterial 8 can then be subjected to any further treatment which issuitable therefor, for example, permanent setting thereof.

Referring to FIG. 2, the roll 7 is provided with a suitable drive means12, such as, a belt drive which drives the roll in the directionindicated by the arrow thereon. Depending upon the material beingtreated, the surface of the roll may or may not be roughened to obtainthe proper driving force, which facilitates treatment of the material.

The roll 7 may also be heated interiorly by any suitable means to asuitable treatment temperature. The roll 7 provides a uniformtemperature across the width of the material being treated therebyminimizing any problem in differential expansion of the heat expandablecomponents therearound and facilitating the uniform treatment of amaterial. The roll 7 also provides the driving force which is necessaryto drive the material into the passages formed between it and the covermember 9.

The cover member 9 is provided with a shoe apparatus 14 which ispivotally mounted by suitable support arms 15 to a stationary supportblock 16 to rotate about an axis defined by pivot pins 17 on the supportblock 16. The shoe apparatus 14 is actuated through a press meanscomposed of a plurality of air cylinders 18 mounted on the support block16. Each air cylinder 18 has a piston rod 19 which presses against theshoe apparatus 14 and an adjustment device 20 for varying the forceapplied through the piston rod to the shoe apparatus 14.

Referring to FIG. 3, the shoe apparatus 14 has a first materialcontacting means comprising a flexible steel plate 21 mounted on thebottom thereof by means of a holder 22. The plate 21 extends outwardlyfrom the shoe apparatus in a cantilevered manner over the roll 7 to forma first passage therewith.

The shoe apparatus 14 also mounts a pair of suitable pressure plates 23,24 thereon in an inclined position designed to apply pressure to thefree end portion of the plate 21. The pressure plates 23, 24 which arepreferably of steel are secured on the shoe apparatus 14 by a suitableclamp means 25 which is removably secured to the shoe apparatus 14in anysuitable manner.

In addition, the shoe apparatus 14 has a second material contactingmeans 26 which is secured between the pressure plates 23, 24 and plate21 andextends outwardly of the plate 21 to form a second passage withthe drive roll 7. The second material contacting means 26 has a materialcontacting surface which is composed of a material having a relativelyhigher coeificient of friction than the first material contacting plate21. The flexibility and resiliency of member 26 depends on the type ofmaterial being processed and the results desired. The member 26 ispositioned in overlapping contact with the plate 21 under the edge ofthe pressure plate 23 with its free end extending beyond the free end ofplate 21. The lower free edge 29 of lower pressure plate 23 may be.located a slight iistance in from the vertically projected edge of theplate 21 or in a more advanced position depending on the characteristicsof member 26 and the ability to make it deflect towards the drive roll 7as more fully explained below.

The operation of the equipment is discussed below, by way of example inrelation to the treatment of a 2-bar 40 denier 13 filament nylon warpknit fabric which was 54 inches wide and had a yield of 6.3 ounces peryard prior to treatment. r

In the equipment used, the drive roll 7 was 10% inches in diameter .andits surface had knurls 13 spaced 125 to the inch at an angle of 53 tothe direction of rotation of the roll. A second series of cross knurls13' shown in FIG. 2 spaced 125 to the inch were superimposed on the rollat a slightly shallower depth to prevent the fabric 8 from tending toadvance in the direction of the deeper knurls 13. The surface of theroll was chrome plated and hada roughness reading (RMS) of between 180to 220. The first material contacting means 21 was comprised of a .006inch thick flexible Invar steel plate. The second material contactingmeans 26.shown in detail in FIG. 4 comprised a'strip of silicone rubber27 having a rubber Durometer of 45 secured under a flexible steel plate28. The free edge 29 of pressure plate 23 was in contact with the topsurface of the flexible steel plate and resilient strip of siliconerubber 27 at a point located about .01 inch in from the verticallyprojected free edge of the plate 21. Because of its disposition, therubber strip 27 cushions and distributes the application of the appliedforce-f the pressure much in the manner of a shock absorber.

In operation, the fabric 8 Was placed on and around the drive roll 7 sothat a sufficient length of material was placed below the shoe apparatus14 before the shoe apparatus was lowered into position. The shoeapparatus was then lowered relative to the roll 7 so that thecurvilinear plane of the bottom surface of the plate 21 was brought tobear on the fabric 8 and the forward portion of the rubber strip 27 wasresting on the fabric 8 on roll 7. The air pressure in each of 4cylinders spaced equally across the fabric was set at 720 pounds forceper cylinder. The temperature of the roll 7 was brought to 225 F. andthe surface speed of the roll was set at 12 /2 yards per minute. Thesurface speed of the roll corresponds to the input speed of the fabricneglecting any slight losses due to friction. The output speed of theguide rollers 10 and take-up roller 11 was set to take up the fabric atapproximately 10 yards per minute so as to effect a longitudinalcompression of the material. It is noted that the longitudinalcompression of the fabric on the take-up roller 11 will be equal to orless than the longitudinal compression imparted to the material by thecover member 9 and driving roll 7.

It was observed that once the treatment process had been initiated withthe roll 7 driving the fabric and take-up roller taking it up, the,forward edge of the member 26 flexed away from the roll depending uponthe angle at which the fabric was withdrawn from under member 27.However, the rubber strip 27 continued tobe deflected towards the roll 7under the normal force created by the cylinders 4 so that at someintermediate plane thereof, the rubber strip 27 formed a point ofminimum passage with. the roll '7. As the roll 7 and take-up roller 11continued to rotate, the fabric was advanced into the passage betweenthe plate 21 and roll 7; the plate 21 pressing the fabric against theroll 7 due to the force effected by the cylinders 4 acting through thepressure plates 24 and 23 causing the fabric to be driven forward atsubstantially the same surface speed of roll 7. As the fabricproceededforwardly of the plate 21, it passed into the accumulation cavity formedby the roll 7, the edge surface of the plate 21 and an intermediateportion of the rubber strip 27 to the point of minimum passage with theroll 7 indicated as Q in the drawings.

Upon entering the accumulation cavity, the fabric 8 initially increasedin thickness while being simultaneously longitudinally compressed sincethe forward portions of the fabric had been subjected to a distortionalshear force which caused the forward movement of the fabric to beslowed. The distortional shear force was created by the driving force ofthe roll 7 on the underside of the fabric 8 and the frictional dragforce of the rubber strip 27 on the topside of the fabric in oppositionto the driving force. The frictional drag force was sufficiently greaterthan the driving force to effect a slowing down of the forward movementrelative to the drive roll 7 so that the fabric 8 slipped with respectto the roll 7. The slowing down of the fabric 8 relative to the roll 7imposed a longitudinal compressive force on the fabric created by thefabric being driven into the accumulation cavity.

As the fabric 8 proceeded through the accumulation cavity, under theforce of the advancing material behind it, its thickness was slightlyreduced in conformance with the profile of the cavity while remainingunder the force imposed on its topside by the cylinders 4 acting throughthe plate 28 and rubber strip 27. Any rough spots present in the fabricduring this time only momentarily and locally distorted the rubber strip27 without affecting the tolerances in the overall apparatus. The fabricwas withdrawn from the accumulation cavity under the point of minimumpassage. The guide rolls 10 were arranged in a series of three rollswhich were set at a speed less than the speed of the drive roll 7 but ata slightly greater speed than the output speed of the longitudinallycompressed fabric so that they cooperated to draw out some of thelongitudinal compression in the fabric to a desired uniform degree oflongitudinal compression within the range of the apparatus before thefabric was taken up by the take-up roller 11.

The longitudinally compressed fabric was subsequently heat set at a rateof about 30 y.p.m. on .a tenter frame of about 10 yards in length at atemperature of approximately 340 F. applied for about 15 seconds. Anexamination of the fabric showed it to have increased bulk, a betterhand, and more elastic stretch; the individual filame'nts in the yarnitself exhibiting crimps.

It appears that where there is noticeable wear in a resilient member ofrubber that a higher abrasion resiliency rubber or rubber substitute ora resilient abrasion lining on the rubber member may be used withoutaffecting the process.

Further, while rubber was used as the second material contacting meansin the example described above it will be readily apparent that othermaterials can be substituted so long as there remains the proper shearfrictional force applied to the top side of the material in relationshipto the surface of the drive roll. Further, while a member that is bothresilient and flexible may be suitable in treating some material, it maybe desirable to use a more rigid member for other applications or whendifferent effects are desired in the material to be treated.

Still further, by suitable adjustments to the dimensions of theaccumulation cavity a coarse crepe can be obtained. In the case of wovenfabrics, this will show up as a visual crepe on the surface of thtfabric.

Also, while the cover member described in the preferred embodimentsabove were assembled from several different parts, it will be readilyapparent that the cover member can be formed from one mold so long as ithas the same characteristics as described above.

Referring to FIG. 5 an alternative form of the treatment apparatusutilizes an auxiliary pressure applying means, such as a lip loader 30which applies additional pressure on the steel plate 28 and member 27 ata point approximating the pointof minimum passage Q. This form hasbeen'found to be especially useful in connection with longitudinallycompressing less resilient material such' as woven fabrics.

' The lip loader 30,'by way of'example, comprises a suitable pressureplate 31 mounted on the clamp 25 by a suitable bracket 32 and having aninclined forward edge 33, the tip of which abuts the plate 26 at a pointslightly spaced from the free end of the pressure plate 23. The

7 lip loader 30 also includes a press means 34 which consists of athreaded screw 35 mounted above and in pressure applying contact withthe pressure plate 31. The screw 35 is maintained in position by asuitable threaded collar 36 which permits sufficient pressure forces tobe created on the pressure plate 31.

The lip loader 30 is dimensioned to extend across the width of thematerial being treated and the number of press means 34 are designed tobe hand adjustable to provide a uniform pressure distribution across thematerial width.

Referring to FIG. 6, it has also been found that when the secondmaterial contacting means 26 is made of a material such as siliconerubber that by directing an auxiliary pressure applying means F againstthe free edge surface thereof so as to longitudinally buckle the membera second cavity 37 is formed between the point of minimum passage Q andthe point R at which the auxiliary pressure applying means is directedwhich is also a point of minimum passage. The second cavity which isthus formed is larger than the accumulation cavity and while notrestraining the material in the same manner as the accumulation cavitypermits the superimposition of a wrinkle type crepe to certainlongitudinally compressed material such as a woven fabric. A wovenfabric which is processed in this manner will have the advantage of asubstantial stretch characteristic which is not found in other wrinkletype crepe fabrics.

It has been found that by subjecting materials to the above mechanicaltreatment that the compression of the material is effected to desirabledegrees within a minimum of time and at a rapid output speed. Thetreatment apparatus has been found to be effective in decreasing theamount of set-up time heretofore necessary in other apparatus,principally because in most cases there are not only less parts tocontend with but also the tolerances to be maintained between a numberof relatively spaced components are less critical. In fact, it has beenfound that only a matter of minutes is required to set up the apparatusof the invention, since, once the components of the pressure applyingmeans have been secured together, the only mechanical adjustment whichis necessary for proper operation is the positioning of the firstmaterial contacting means relative to the drive roll. Furthe-r, When thesecond material contacting means is made of resilient friction material,such as rubber, the amount of expansion therein due to the hightemperatures used does not become critical in effecting its spacing fromthe driving means. Therefore, it becomes unnecessary to constantly checkthe spacing between the driving member and the second materialcontacting means with the result that the output of treated material isincreased.

Also, when the second material contacting means is rubber the leadingedge of the first material contacting plate can be imperfect, that is,it may have nicks or a slight warp. Additionally, where a material mayhave an imperfection such as a rough spot, the inherent resiliency ofthe member 27 will compensate for it locally and not permit theimperfection to throw off the tolerances in the apparatus. Hence, notime will be lost in shutting down a machine to reorient thetoleranceswhich have been affected by an imperfection. Further, the speed of theapparatus can be increased over the heretofore limited speeds of otherapparatus without affecting the uniformity of treatment.

The invention provides an apparatus and method for impartinglongitudinal compression to traveling lengths of material in a rapid andeconomical fashion. The apparatus utilizes a minimum of parts in anarrangement which eliminates the need for spatially related retarderblades heretofore believed essential and thus achieves, at least, atwo-fold accomplishment. That is, the apparatus can be set-up in aminimum of time since there is only one relative movement necessary toproperly position the parts of the apparatus for processing operations.Also, the imposed tolerances between components can be readily observedand maintained during operations with the result that increased outputor operating time is obtained.

Having thus described the invention, it is not intended that it be solimited as various changes can be readily made therein. Accordingly, itis intended that the subject matter above described and illustrated inthe drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for mechanically compacting a material of predeterminedthickness comprising the steps of driving a length of the material undera driving force while confining the material to maintain thepredetermined thickness and substantially undistorted state of thematerial thereafter driving the length of material under said drivingforce into an accumulation cavity having a first clearance thereingreater than the predetermined thickness of the material and an outletof a clearance less than said first clearance; and

frictionally engaging the material being advanced through theaccumulation cavity on one side of the material with a surface of astationary member throughout the accumulation cavity to impose afriction force thereon in a direction substantially opposite to thedirection in which the material is advanced for slowing the forwardmovement of the material to increase the thickness of the material uponbeing advanced into the cavity and to accumulate and compress thematerial longitudinally within the cavity as the material is advancedthrough the cavity while simultaneously supporting the material on theopposite side on a moving member throughout the accumulation cavity.

2. A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein the material is driven intothe accumulation cavity from a first passage contiguous to theaccumulation cavity and of a clearance to maintain the predeterminedthickness and the substantially undistorted state of the material, thefirst passage and the accumulation cavity defining a continuous confinedpassageway for the driven material.

3. A process as set forth in claim 2 wherein the clearance of the inletof the accumulation cavity is abruptly. greater than the clearance ofthe first passage.

4. A process as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises the step ofreleasing the compressed material advanced beyond the outlet of theaccumulation cavity from being frictionally engaged as the materialadvances out of the outlet of the accumulation cavity in a mechanicallycompressed state. v

5-. A process in accordance with claim 4 in which the step ofsubstantially releasing the material advanced beyond the outlet of theaccumulation cavity being frictionally engaged comprises taking up thematerial in an unconfined condition as the one side thereof is advancedfree of the friction forces.

6. A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the step offrictionally engaging the material being advanced through theaccumulation cavity comprises contacting the one side of the materialwith a surface which is resiliently flexible with respect to the movablemember on the other side, the resilient flexing of the surface enablingthe material to be accumulated and compressed within the accumulationcavity.

7. A process as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises the step ofapplying an additional uniform pressure normal to said one side of thematerial in said accumulation cavity to increase said friction force.

8. A process as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises the step ofsuperimposing a wrinkle type crepe to the longitudinally compressedmaterial within said second passage.

9. A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein the stationary member ispressed in the direction of the moving member to create said frictionforce on the advancing material.

10. A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first clearance is atthe inlet to the accumulation cavity and is abruptly greater than thepredetermined thickness of the material.

11. A process for mechanically compacting a material of predeterminedthickness comprising the steps of driving a length'of the material undera driving force while confining the material in a first passage tomaintain the predetermined thicknws and substantially undistorted stateof the material;

thereafter driving the length of material under said driving force intoan accumulation cavity forming a continuous confined passageway with thefirst passage, said cavity having an inlet of a predetermined clearancegreater than the predetermined thickness of the material and an outletof a predetermined clearance less than the predetermined clearance ofthe inlet; and

frictionally engaging the material being advanced through theaccumulation cavity on one side of the material with a surface of aresilient member throughout the accumulation cavity to impose a frictionforce thereon in a direction substantially opposite to the direction inwhich the material is advanced for slowing the forward movement of thematerial to increase the thickness of the material upon being advancedinto the cavity and to accumulate and compress the materiallongitudinally within the cavity as the material is advanced through thecavity while simultaneously supporting the material on the opposite sideof a moving member throughout the accumulation cavity while saidresilient member is pressed in the direction of the moving member tocreate said friction force on the advancing material.

12. The process for mechanically longitudinally compressing an advancinglength of material of predetermined thickness comprising the steps of(1) delivering the length of material forward into a first passage at afirst continuous speed, (2) subjecting the material in said firstpassage to a driving force imposed on one side thereof for advancing thematerial while maintaining the predetermined thickness and thesubstantially undistorted state of the material, (3) abruptly increasingthe thickness of the material in a second passage immediately as thematerial leaves said first passage at a point contiguous to said firstpassage while simultaneously confining the material to a thicknessslightly greater than the predetermined thickness and maintaining theimposition of said driving force on said one side thereof, and then (4)frictionally engaging the confined advancing material in said secondpassage with a stationary friction force on a side 10 opposite said oneside thereof in opposition to said driving force simultaneously imposedon said one side for slowing the forward movement of the confinedmaterial while simultaneously reducing the slightly greater thickness ofthe material from said point of abrupt increase to accumulate and tocompress the material longitudinally :as the material advances from saidfirst passage through said second passage.

13. A process for mechanically longitudinally compressing an advancinglength of material of predetermined thickness comprising the steps of:

driving the material through a first passage with a driving force ononly one side thereof at a first speed while maintaining thepredetermined thickness and substantially undistorted state of thematerial,

abruptly reducing the speed of the material by passing the material intoa second passage forming a continuous confined passageway with the firstpassage while confining the material to a thickness slightly greaterthan the predetermined thickness immediately as the material leaves saidfirst passage at a point contiguous to said first passage, and

thereupon simultaneously applying increased friction force against theopposite side of the confined advancing material under a resilientconfining force applied against the advancing material in opposition tosaid driving force upon the material passing into and through saidsecond passage while maintaining said driving force on said one side ofthe material as the material passes through said second passage andwhile simultaneously reducing the slightly greater thickness of thematerial to accumulate and com- 1 press the material longitudinally asthe material passes through said second passage.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,015,145 1/1962 Cohn 2618.63,220,056 11/ 1965 Walton 264282 X 3,235,933 2/ 1966 Catallo 264-2823,260,778 7/1966 Walton 2642'82 3,287,784 11/1966 Loftin 2618.6 X3,390,218 6/1968 Painter 264282 3,426,405 2/1969 Walton 2618.6 X

ROBERT F. WHITE, Primary Examiner R. R. KUCIA, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 2643l6 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 6 12 Dated F y 1972 inventor) Alexander L. 'I'rifunovic et 0,1 I

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby correctedes shown below:

I Column 1, line 39, I "extile should be --textile-- Column 3,- line 65,"roungened" should be --roughened-- Column 6, line 57, "tht" should be-the-- Signed and sealed this 19th day of March 197L (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETGHER, JR. C. MARSHALL DANN I Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 w u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: IQiQo-aes-au F ORM PO-iOSO (10-69) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CertificatePatent No. 3,641,234 Patented February 8, 1972 Alexander L. Trifunovio,J ames R. Hodges and Richard L. Shiok Application having been made byAlexander L. Trifunovic, James R. Hodges, and Richard L. Shiok, theinventors named in the patent above identified, and Joseph Bancroft &Sons Co., Wilmington, Delaware, a corporation of Delaware, the assignee,for the issuance of a certificate under the provisions of Title 35,Section 256, of the United States Code, adding the names of BenjaminE.Mann and Ick W. Kim as joint inventors, and deleting the names ofAlexander L. Trifunovic and James R. Hodges as joint inventors, and ashowing and proof of facts satisfying the requirements of the said section having been submitted, it is this 15th day of May 1973, certifiedthat the names of the said Benjamin E. Mann and Iok WV. Kim are herebyadded to, and that the names of the said Alexander L. Trifunovic andJames R. Hodges are hereby deleted from, the said patent as jointinventors with the said Richard L. Shick.

FRED W. SHERLING Associate Solicitor.

